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Odam claims he didn’t know the kind of hornet’s nest he was getting into in Lockhart, the barbecue capital of Texas, when he called out the local barbecue joints. The aim of the trip had been to rank the brisket at the four barbecue joints in town, but he was struck by how poorly he thought the smoked beef compared to what he was used to in Austin. I think his first mistake was not explaining that Lockhart cooks a different style of barbecue than Austin, not to mention that I’d give Lockhart’s barbecue prize to the smoked beef sausages hand-tied at each joint.

After the article went live, the Lockhart mayor and the chamber of commerce both sent letters, and the local paper even dedicated a surprisingly conciliatory editorial to Odam’s brisket opinions. Roy Perez, pitmaster at Lockhart’s Kreuz Market and a Texas barbecue icon, shared his opinion as well:

For 31 years I’ve been manning these pits and for 31 years the line on weekends has been out the door and still continues to do so. When the time comes and that line is no longer there I’ll be the first one to hang my apron bury my knives in the ground and walk into the sunset with my head held high for the work WE’VE done for this bbq world.

I sat down with Matthew Odam at the Texas Monthly studios to discuss why he thinks Lockhart’s brisket is “overrated,” as the story’s headline reads; what innovations (sauce and forks, anyone?) would mean for these historic Texas barbecue joints; and what other reactions Odam has seen since the piece published.

Comments

Fantasy Maker

The answer is YES Lockhart brisket is over rated. If you go to the Houston, Austin and Dallas areas you will find better brisket that is juicy, mostly I think because the quality of the meat to begin with is CAB prime cut. I think some of these smaller areas cannot get top quality beef OR they do not think their customer base will pay for premium meat so they use choice or select grades which are tougher.

Sky Mirror

I’ll bet you use the most expensive vodka money can buy in your bloody marys as part of your snobbishness. Using prime for a long slow smoke makes about as much sense as using prime beef for pot roast.

Fantasy Maker

I don’t drink alcohol.

MisterRight

Lockhart style brisket is the best in the country. You can talk all you want about Austin and Franklin’s, but at the end of day Franklin has done a great job of copying the masters. Austin does win for the highest priced brisket in Texas.

Rick Ward

There’s not much reason to drive to Lockhart for brisket.

John Kemmerly

Sure, history, atmosphere, and eating experience are important, and the author mentioned these things, but the article was about brisket. More specifically, it was about Lockhart brisket not measuring up to Austin. I see nothing wrong with this. If Matthew was writing about who had the cleanest restrooms, it wouldn’t matter if one of the places offered free showers. The subject is up to the writer, and imo, the writer nailed it.

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